As the vortex cloud continued to rotate, it seemed to generate an inexplicable attraction.
All the clouds in the entire Cong Yun Sea's sky were slowly absorbed and merged into it.
The scale grew increasingly vast, occupying the entire field of vision. Just looking up gave one a suffocating sensation.
The frequency of the blue flashes at the center of the vortex also accelerated.
Finally, when everything reached a critical point.
In the center of the vortex, the blue light erupted suddenly.
After forming a ring, it spread outward continuously from the center of the vortex.
The speed at which the ring expanded was extremely fast.
When people first saw it, it was still inside the vortex cloud layer.
In the blink of an eye, it swept across all the cultivators present.
Without time for their faces to show a shocked expression, those who were swept by the blue light disappeared like illusions.
The blue light continued to spread outward.
If one could overlook the phenomena from ten thousand meters in the sky, they would see that this blue light ring spread from the central sea area to the entire Cong Yun Sea in an extremely short time.
It reached the end of the sea area and stopped.
Then...
It suddenly contracted.
With a speed several times faster than the expansion, it collapsed back to its original point.
The blue light instantly became extremely bright.
The thunderstorm in the vortex cloud layer stopped.
The thick cumulus clouds, which were thousands of kilometers thick and tens of thousands of miles long, seemed to be squeezed and kneaded by an invisible giant hand.
At the same time, in the Cong Yun Sea.
Countless blue dots separated from the sea surface from various places, floating and gathering.
Swiftly moving towards the clouds above.
Gradually, the thick cumulus clouds, in their constant silent movement, formed a continuous building-like structure.
Then, the blue dots attracted misty water vapor floating up from below.
The cloud layer gradually turned azure and transparent.
This anomaly lasted for a quarter of an hour.
Finally, a massive heavenly palace, gathering the clouds and water, translucent and blue all over, appeared above the Cong Yun Sea.
The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, sealed for thousands of years, reappeared in the world!
...
"In front, the battle is intense, and all major sects have suffered heavy losses. My Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, as the leader of the sects in Cong Yun Sea, is no exception."
"I don't know how many senior brothers have died on the battlefield."
"The Sect Master entrusted me to go out and recruit disciples before he left. I can't fail his entrustment."
"Fortunately, this trip was quite fruitful."
Li Fan gradually regained consciousness.
Looking around, he saw a plaza with over a hundred cultivators lying all over the place.
However, all the cultivators' clothes had turned blue and white, with faintly visible characters "cloud" and "water" on them.
In front of the crowd, a tall and handsome man in white was muttering something to himself.
The white-clad man looked quite handsome, but a hint of nonchalance could be seen in his expression.
Seeing this scene, Li Fan, recalling what he had heard in his previous life, knew that he had successfully entered the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
At present, he couldn't act rashly and had to wait quietly for the "plot" to unfold.
So he concealed his breath and remained motionless.
Gradually, the group of cultivators on the plaza began to wake up.
When they saw their situation clearly, some of them became a little excited.
"What's going on? Where is this place? I remember we were near that vortex cloud, weren't we?"
"Also, what's the deal with these clothes?"
They noticed the man in white in front of them, who stood out from the crowd.
Immediately, someone asked impatiently, "Hey! You, the guy in white, did you bring us here? Who are you? What's your purpose?"
The man in white finally woke up from his mumbling.
Looking at the group of cultivators in front of him, a joyful smile appeared on his face. "Oh, you're finally awake. Next, stay quiet. I'm going to explain some important matters to you."
Before he could finish speaking, he was impatiently interrupted.
"Stop the nonsense and tell us, where is this place?"
A hint of amusement appeared at the corner of the man's mouth. He shook his head, "It seems the newcomers this time aren't very obedient."
Without much movement, he glanced at the person who spoke up.
A blue light flashed, and the person who had spoken before had their head severed.
The previously noisy square suddenly became extremely quiet.
Some of the cultivators were frightened, while others suddenly realized something.
The man in white looked satisfied as he observed the now quiet crowd. He spoke calmly, "I am Qin Tang, the Chief of the Teaching Hall in the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. You should address me as Senior Brother Qin."
"You are all outer disciples recruited by me this time. In the next few months, as long as you can pass my various tests, you will be able to officially join the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace."
"Of course, there are a few points that you must remember."
"The first point is to show enough respect to Senior Brother Qin. Whatever I say, you must do. As you've seen, the consequences of disobedience."
"The second point..."
Qin Tang continued to explain.
The cultivators below seemed quiet on the surface but were already communicating with each other through their divine senses.
"Does anyone know what's going on?"
"This is strange! The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace seems to be a sect ruin shrouded in anomalies."
"Is Qin Tang a real person?"
"Definitely not a living person! Haven't you seen that he has no aura at all?"
"Don't panic, the anomaly has its own rules. As long as we follow what Qin Tang says, there shouldn't be any immediate danger."
Li Fan subtly glanced towards Sikong Yi and Baili Chen.
These two individuals remained composed as if they had already known they would encounter an anomaly.
Or perhaps, even if it was an anomaly, these two were completely prepared for it?
Li Fan then looked at Qin Tang.
Based on his memories of the exploration of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace from his previous life, Qin Tang was the first checkpoint to enter the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
He wasn't a living person but an entity similar to an anomaly.
Whatever he said was the rule of this anomaly.
If you wanted to stay alive, you had to abide by it.
And only by passing his tests could you obtain the qualification to explore various parts of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
...
Qin Tang finally finished speaking.
He clapped his hands, "It's getting late today. Let me take you to rest. Early tomorrow, we will officially begin the tests."
"Follow me."
Saying this, he turned and walked towards the outside of the square.
The vast majority of the cultivators, including Sikong Yi and Baili Chen, obediently followed behind Qin Tang in white.
Li Fan also followed closely.
Only a very small number of people exchanged glances and did not follow the crowd.
Instead, they rushed in the opposite direction, attempting to leave.
Qin Tang seemed to be unaware of these people's actions, showing no reaction.
These people were about to escape, and their flying speed increased.
They failed to notice that as they moved further away from Qin Tang, more and more blue light emerged from their bodies.
Finally, after flying a distance.
All these people turned into dried corpses, falling heavily to the ground.